Jerusalem: Causes of Victories and Defeats

 For a long time, Jerusalem remained under Islamic rule during the Ayyubid and later the Mamluk dynasties. The Mamluks, led by Qutuz, took a stand in defending the Levant and Egypt against the Mongol invasion, an event that history remembers with great pride. This victorious Mamluk leader was able to instill the spirit of fighting and jihad in the cause of God among Muslim soldiers. He marched with them from Egypt to the Levant to meet the Mongols at Ain Jalut, accompanied by his friend Sheikh Ibn Abd al-Salam, who guided and supported him. God granted them a resounding victory that restored dignity to Islam and honor to the Muslims.

Egypt and the Levant remained under Mamluk rule until they were conquered by the Ottoman Sultan Selim, who took over the Caliphate from the Abbasids. All Muslim lands became part of the Ottoman Caliphate, ruled by the House of Osman of the Turks. Jerusalem remained in Ottoman hands, and toward the end of their era, there were maneuvers and attempts by Jews to settle in Palestine. Despite the injustices and shortcomings of the Ottoman era, from which the Turks themselves did not escape, the Ottoman sultans are remembered for their keenness to keep Jews out of Palestine despite their desperate attempts to settle there.

During the Turkish rule, the final say in Jerusalem belonged to its original Muslim inhabitants. They forbade foreigners from owning land in Jerusalem. Historians tell us that the Jews repeatedly tried to persuade the sheikhs and leaders of the country to change their policy and allow even a limited number of Jews to enter Palestine and buy and own land, but they did not succeed. They then turned to Istanbul to convince the Sultan and his ministers to grant Jews facilities for settling in Palestine.

The Collapse Under the Fragile States of the Late Abbasid Era

For this purpose, Herzl frequented Istanbul, trying to persuade Sultan Abdul Hamid of his idea between 1897 and 1902. But Abdul Hamid refused to listen to his pleas and rejected the temptation of money he offered. Herzl himself recorded in his diaries the following words from the Sultan:

"The Sultan sent me a high-ranking medal with a reply containing these phrases: 'Tell Dr. Herzl not to make any further attempts in this matter. I am not prepared to cede a single inch of this land to anyone else. The land is not my property; it belongs to my people, and my people have watered its soil with their blood. Let the Jews keep their millions of gold.'"

But the situation changed after the revolution that toppled Abdul Hamid and his throne and brought in the "Committee of Union and Progress," which included the crypto-Jews of the Dönmeh who feigned Islam. During their rule, the Ottoman government enacted a law allowing Jews and others to buy land in Palestine. The Sultan's farms were sold at public auctions, and the Jews bought what they could through this channel before World War I, which began in 1914.

Jerusalem Under British Occupation

In 1917, while World War I was at its height, the British entered and advanced into Palestine, heading toward Jerusalem. The Ottoman army, which included Arab soldiers, tried to repel the foreign invasion with all their might, but the reasons for their defeat were clear. Their preparation was not complete, the nation was not united, justice was not prevailing, and most importantly, the people's connection to their Lord was severed. This has always been the cause of defeat for Muslims. Here is an example of the actions of the defeated Muslims when they felt helpless. One of them, a Turk named Izzat Bey, claimed that Jerusalem would inevitably fall into the hands of the British and that there was no use in resisting further. He summoned the Mufti of Jerusalem and the Mayor, and when they met, he said to them: "The English soldiers have surrounded Jerusalem, and it will soon fall into their hands. I have decided to leave the city in half an hour, and I want to entrust you with this great moral burden: the surrender of the city to the conquerors." He then handed the Mayor the following surrender document to give to the British:

To the English Command: "For two days, bombs have been falling on the holy city of Jerusalem, which is sacred to all faiths. The Ottoman government, wishing to preserve the holy sites from destruction, has withdrawn its military force from the city and has appointed officials to protect the religious sites, such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. In the hope that you will treat them in the same manner, I am sending this paper with the acting mayor of Jerusalem, Hussein Bey al-Husseini." Independent Governor of Jerusalem Izzat 8/12/1333 AH

Thus, Jerusalem fell into British hands, and the last Ottoman soldier departed. All of Palestine remained under British rule, expecting its sons to be entrusted with its governance. They continued to receive promises upon promises while the British equivocated, and the country was run by British hands as the British wished. Not only that, but the minds that were running the government were purely Jewish. The Jewish Herbert Samuel was the High Commissioner in Palestine, and the Attorney General was also a Jewish legal advisor, with the "Jewish Agency" behind them.

Liberated by a United Nation, Clinging to God's Rope, in the Era of Saladin

Under this unjust rule, the Arabs soon heard about the Balfour Declaration, by which the British gave the Jews the right to establish a national homeland for themselves in Palestine. From that day on, revolts flared up in Palestine, and dozens of martyrs fell, while innocent people were sentenced to imprisonment, killing, and execution. During the Arab-“Israeli” war in 1947 in Palestine, this war ended with the declaration of the Jewish state after the Jews were able to seize the larger part of Palestine, along with a part of the new Jerusalem. Before that, the Arabs had rejected a plan for the partition of Palestine that would have given the Jews less than what they took. The sons of this nation remained steadfast, waiting for the day when they could liberate the holy land and restore justice to its people. The war of 1956 came, and something new was lost, and the war of 1967 came, and everything in Palestine and other parts of the Arab homeland was lost. The Jews announced the permanent annexation of Jerusalem and considered it the capital of their alleged state.

What does Jerusalem await?

And today, after the 1973 battles, what does Jerusalem await? Does it wait to return, along with the surrounding land of Palestine, to its rightful owners? Or does it wait to be internationalized and become a global city for all the nations of the world, with its owners looking on with sorrow and grief? Or will it remain the capital of the enemies as they wish?

We wait. But we know full well that laying down our weapons cannot bring it back to us, even if we cling to all the goals of so-called international justice and human rights declared on paper.

We also know that Jerusalem is an Islamic land, and Muslims all over the world have a right to participate in the honor of fighting for it. Its liberation can only be achieved through fighting and sacrifice in the cause of God, with a united nation, with the banner of Islam raised, and with the holy jihad declared throughout its lands. Only then will our nation be a true nation of Muhammad (peace be upon him), and our men will be the men of Ibn al-Khattab, Saladin, and other Muslim men.

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-         Published in issue (359), 4 Sha'ban 1397 AH / 19 July 1977 CE, p. 40.